How the Other Half Lives
by Jason Thompson
Summary: Buffy walks a mile in someone else's shoes...


How the Other Half Lives   
A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Fanfiction Story   
Author: Jason Thompson   
Pilamsega@yahoo.com   
October 28, 2001   
  
Disclaimer:Once upon a time there was a guy he wrote a story with characters and settings   
he didn't own, but he put a disclaimer on his story and that made it a little less illegal. BTVS and   
Angel are owned by Joss, Fox, Mutant Enemy, UPN and the WB. I don't own anything except   
the situation characters are in.   
  
Category:Buffy/Xander and Lilah/Xander   
  
Spoilers:Becoming   
  
Warnings:None   
  
Summary:Whistler lets Buffy take a look at what Xander's life is like.   
  
Rating:   
  
Distribution:Ask First.   
  
Notes:   
  
Dedication:Dedicated to the usual suspects; Bri, Mary, Duchess, Dale, Blaire, Stone Cold,   
Ice Wing, Arashi, Aslan, Vega, Jen Zimmer, Louise, Sairs, Tony D, and Queen Angel who have   
allowed me to bounce my ideas off them, and Krac, cause she has the evil bunny slippers.   
  
How the Other Half Lives   
  
Buffy's world exploded in front of her, her ears were ringing and she felt tears in her eyes. She   
staggered and held her head for a while. When her vision cleared, she frantically looked around   
for the vamp that had punched her. She suddenly saw him standing over her. She frantically   
searched for a stake, when the vamp was tackled from out of no where. By the time Buffy's mind   
registered the tackle, she heard the vamp being staked.   
  
Buffy shook her head to clear the cobwebs, when she cracked her eyes open again. Xander was   
smiling down at her, "How ya doing Buff?"   
  
Buffy smiled and took Xander's hand, "I'm okay…"   
  
Xander suddenly shoved her down, "STAY DOWN!"   
  
Buffy looked up as Xander was attacked by four vampires. Buffy staggered to her feet, still   
dizzy. She couldn't let Xander get slaughtered, she ran towards the fight but suddenly found   
herself on the ground. She had tripped over something, she looked towards her feet and found   
her shoes were untied. "What the Hell?" She started back to her feet and looked towards the   
struggle hoping Xander wasn't already… kicking vamp ass?   
  
Xander moved with skill and grace, he grabbed one of the vamps by the wrist and flipped him   
into a broken tree limb, dusting him. In the same move, Xander had spun and delivered a heel   
kick to a second vamp. Buffy watched Xander reach into the back of his pants and produced a   
stake. With fluid grace, Xander staked two of the vampires. By this point, the vampire Xander   
had kicked jumped to his feet, Xander spun and threw the stake at him like a knife thrower at the   
circus. The vampire obliged Xander's trick by exploding into dust.   
  
Buffy got to her feet and walked towards Xander in awe. Xander smoothed his flannel coat and   
ran his fingers through his hair, he turned to Buffy and shook his head. "Buffy, how many times   
do I have to tell you, not to follow me on patrol? You're going to get yourself killed one of these   
nights." Buffy's eyes widened, but Xander continued, "I know Buffy. You want to help, but I'm   
the Slayer, this is my fight."   
  
"But…"   
  
"But, Willow, Tara and Giles help on patrol?" Xander gave her this little lop-sided grin that for   
some reason caused her heart to race and her breath to hitch, "You do too Buffy, you help by   
researching, where would I be without my Research Girl?" Xander placed an arm across her   
shoulder, "C'mon Buffy, I'll walk you back to the Magic Shop."   
  
***   
  
Xander led Buffy into the shop and smiled at the others, "Hey guys… Look what the Slayer   
dragged in." He walked Buffy over to the table. "Buffamania tried to follow me on patrol again.   
You guys explain to Buffy how important you guys research this Glory for me? Again. I'm   
gonna sweep the park, and meet you guys at the Bronze in an hour. Okay?"   
  
Willow smiled, "Sure thing Xand." Xander smiled in return. Willow turned serious, "Be   
careful."   
  
Xander smirked, "Hey. It's me." Xander jumped up the steps and walked out the door.   
  
Buffy slumped into her chair with a pout, she then mocked him, "'Hey, it's me.' Ooo, I'm Xander,   
I'm the Slayer, I'm strong and Powerful and the One Boy in all the World… And I kiss Vampires   
with souls…"   
  
Willow rolled her eyes, "I don't think Xander's kissed Lilah in almost two years Buffy. Not since   
she left for LA."   
  
Buffy folded her arms across her chest, "That's not the point. The point is, I do plenty to help on   
patrol and he doesn't appreciate me." Buffy was confused by the words coming out of her mouth.   
Something was wrong, SHE was the Vampire Slayer, not Xander. But for some reason, her   
mouth seemed awfully convinced that Xander was the Slayer and he was kissing a vampire   
named Lilah. Didn't Cordelia mention some lawyer named Lilah? She was also seeming to feel   
awfully useless.   
  
Tara and Willow exchanged a look, Tara patted Buffy on the hand, "Buffy's just upset because   
she has a chipped vampire living with her and it's interfering with her sex life with Angel."   
  
Willow smiled, "How is the former Demon by the way? Or Anya?"   
  
Buffy rolled her eyes. What was with this dream, what did they mean about Angel and Anya?   
"Anya's just mad cause she can't kill anyone, and Angel's fine. Why do you have such a problem   
with him?"   
  
Suddenly Angel came in the room behind Giles, "Giles, it's Friday evening. On Friday evenings I   
get my paycheck, where is my paycheck Giles? I need my paycheck Giles, so that I may buy   
Buffy nice and shiny new things. Giles…"   
  
Giles sighed in irritation, "Here is your check Angel, now please go sit with the others and stop   
bothering me."   
  
Tara smirked at Buffy, "You still have a crush on Xander!"   
  
"I don't!"   
  
"You do too, you're almost as obvious about it as Riley is about his crush on you."   
  
Buffy scoffed, "Please, Riley's just a kid, he's what fourteen, he doesn't have a crush on me."   
  
"Yeah, cause fourteen year old boys never think about twenty year old girls who are friends with   
their older brother…"   
  
Angel sat down, "What are we discussing?"   
  
Buffy blushed and smiled at Angel, "Nothing sweetie, I was just correcting something Willow   
and Tar were misinformed about."   
  
Angel nodded, "Ah." Angel then turned to Buffy, "You did it again last night Buffy."   
  
"Did what?"   
  
"You called out Xander's name in your sleep, are you worried about him still?"   
  
Buffy felt herself become pale and she heard Willow and Tara excuse themselves. Buffy quickly   
stood and excused herself.   
  
***   
  
Buffy didn't know what the hell was going on, but she knew Xander was at the center of it and   
she intended to find out. She only hoped that Xander's patrolling habits were the same as her.   
Her guess was confirmed when she heard the sounds of a struggle ahead of her. She rounded a   
corner and found Xander taking on two vampires. She recognized the tactic he was using as well,   
he was trying to separate them enough to where he could stake one and then worry about the   
other one in a one-on-one situation.   
  
The tactic was working as well, because Xander leveled a kick to one vamps knee, and she heard   
the crunch of breaking bones in the vamp's knee along with his cry of pain. Xander quickly   
staked that vamp, but was hit from behind by a tree limb. Xander was dazed and he staggered,   
without thinking, Buffy called out Xander's name and ran headlong into the fray. She jumped on   
the vampire's back and the vampire made quick work of her by flipping him over his shoulder.   
Buffy looked up in terror as the vampire yanked her off the ground by the throat. He tilted her   
throat and began to move in for the kill when Buffy crashed to the ground with ash all over her.   
  
Buffy looked up to see Xander standing over her, she could see a line of blood from a cut near his   
hairline. She could see by his face, that he was furious. "Buffy!"   
  
Buffy jumped to her feet, "Don't! I'm tired of hearing that I shouldn't be helping you Xander!"   
  
Xander sighed, "You're not going to have to hear it anymore. Cause I'm not allowing you to be a   
part of this anymore. I'm telling the others when I get back to the shop that you are forbidden   
from taking part in Slayer business Buffy."   
  
"You're forbidding me?"   
  
"Yes, before you get yourself, or one even all of the others killed. You're too reckless for your   
own good."   
  
"But!"   
  
"But nothing!"   
  
"You can't do that! You have to give me a chance to help Xander! You know, if the positions   
were reversed and I was the Slayer, I'd want as much help as I could get."   
  
"Not when that help is more of a hindrance Buffy."   
  
"I'm a hindrance? So normal girl is holding the big bad Slayer back? Is that what this is?"   
Xander didn't back down, and Buffy felt angry tears form in her eyes, "I'm sorry that I care about   
you too much to see you go out into the darkness alone each and every night Xander. I'm sorry   
that I love you too much to sit at home knowing that tonight a vamp or demon might get the best   
of you! And I'm really sorry that you can't understand that I don't help you because of the reasons   
the others do it, they do it for themselves, I do it for YOU! I come out here night after night to   
make sure that the protector of the night has someone protecting him! But if you don't get that, if   
you're too busy mooning after Lilah or Soldier Girl Kate to realize that while all those girls have   
hurt you, I've been here for you since day one well, I'm not going to bother anymore! Have a nice   
life Xander! I hope you live long enough to realize how much I'm hurting right now." Buffy   
walked off before she could breakdown completely…   
  
***   
  
Buffy jerked at the hand on her shoulder, "I'm up! I'm up!" She turned to find Xander smiling   
down at her, "Hey."   
  
Xander's eyes twinkled, "Hey yourself. Bad dream?"   
  
Buffy stretched in the chair she'd been sleep in, "No, just weird." Buffy stood up and noticed that   
the sun had set. "Time for patrol." Buffy grabbed her coat and pulled it on.   
  
Xander walked over to her, "Want some company?"   
  
Buffy smiled at Xander, "Xander, how many times do we have to go through this? I don't want   
you to get hurt or worse. I'm the Slayer, let me handle this." She exited the shop and Xander   
stood there and sighed.   
  
He heard movement behind him, Xander spoke to the person behind him without turning, "I   
thought that glimpse thing you gave her was supposed to show her that I wasn't as useless as she   
thinks I am. What happened?"   
  
Whistler shrugged as Xander turned around, "What can I say kid? That girl's head is harder than   
brick, she probably just shrugged it off as a bad dream." Xander nodded and sat down on the   
steps, Whistler crossed the shop and sat down next to Xander on the steps, "Not to worry though.   
The PTB have something else you can do for them, and someone else you can help."   
  
Xander turned towards the strange demon sitting next to him, "What's that?"   
  
Whistler smirked, "How do you feel about lawyers?"   
  
"Lawyers?"   
  
"Y'see, there's this lawyer named Lilah…"   
  
--End--


End file.
